By Rob D'Amico and Michele Rahal from Race Day on Fox Sports Radio

True Champions have attributes that separate them from the rest of the world. Earnest Hemingway embellished a famous misquote between himself and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Hemingway said simply, “The rich aren’t like you and me”, to wit Fitzgerald replied, “They have more money”. Racing car drivers aren’t like you and me, they have more talent and if the stock car racing world wants to crown a true champion then one would do well to find what that true talent really means. NASCAR needs to add a road course to the Chase for the Championship.

Since NASCAR decided to use the new “chase” format, which is a 10-race shootout with the top twelve drivers in points resetting their points to 5000 each and additionally giving them 10 bonus points for each win during the first 26 races, a road course has not been a part of the equation for the championship. Why?



In all corners of the globe, in almost every form of racing a road or street course is part of the championship. NASCAR should be no different. In a sport that prides itself on history and tradition, road racing has been hand in hand with the boys from the South in every step of NASCAR’s ascension. If we are going to consider NASCAR’s drivers the best in the world then adding a road course to the Chase isn’t an option, it’s a requirement.

If you were to scan the garage and ask the question, should a road course be in the Chase for the Championship you would get many mixed results. “No, I don’t think one belongs in the Chase”, Jeff Burton, driver of the #31 Chevy said. “I think the Chase should have a fair representation of the race tracks we run the majority of the time. I’m a proponent of the fact that we have 36 races a year and two of them are road courses, which is a small percentage, so the Chase shouldn’t have a road course in it because it would be unfairly represented in what we currently know the Cup Series to be.”

Ask anyone outside the United States who the best racing car drivers in the world are and 9 out 10 won’t mention a NASCAR driver. Some say that it’s because NASCAR isn’t very popular outside the U.S. but the truth is, these detractors just don’t take ovals seriously. The rest of the world doesn’t believe that ovals require skill. On the other hand, now that the so-called open wheel invasion in NASCAR has slowed and the drivers who were part of that influx have seen how difficult it is to compete on a level with the stock car racers, that mindset may be beginning to change. A road race would be a significant step towards that change.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races on two road courses a year, Infineon, in California, and Watkins Glen, New York, but neither are included in the all important last ten races of the season. NASCAR has road raced from the day it was created from the beaches of Daytona to Riverside, California to the backwoods of North Carolina where the sport was born.

Ask Junior Johnson if when, in moments of youthful indiscretions, he could only turn left. The police would have merely had to stand there until he ran out of gas. He had to hone skills that all racers do; Up-shifting, downshifting, four wheel drifting, heel and toe braking techniques all the while doing it better than Johnny Law. It’s what made him a legend.

Next comes the question that, if you are going to add a road race to the Chase then which should it be? The answer is obvious. Watkins Glen, New York. “The Glen is just a great racetrack with a lot of history”, Kyle Petty, driver of the #45 Dodge said. “It’s one of the few places in the country where we get a chance to race where Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Emerson Fittipaldi competed. My 1992 win there is one of my favorites.”

No other tracks in America, other than Daytona and Indy, have more history and prestige than this magnificent piece of real estate in upstate New York.

It started as a somewhat selfish endeavor in 1948 when attorney Cameron Argetsinger, who is recently deceased, dreamt of bringing European style, street racing to his favorite vacation spot. The 6.6 miles course consisted of asphalt, cement and dirt roads that ran through the middle of this sleepy little town and around the state park, which is listed in the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places.

Labeled “The Day They Stopped The Trains”, it was the first post-World War II road race in the U.S. and for the next five years brought the biggest names in American sports car racing to this small town, but after a car left the road in a 1952 race, killing one spectator and injuring several others, the race was moved to a new location on a wooded hilltop southwest of town.

By 1956 a 2.3 miles permanent circuit was built and the following year the NASCAR Grand National Stock Car Series made their first stop at the circuit where it was Buck Baker finding victory lane. It didn’t last long though for NASCAR as they only raced at The Glen in ’57, ’64 and ’65.

It was 1958 when the true international competition began with the Formula Libre’ race. In 1961 Formula One made it’s mark with the first Watkins Glen U.S. GP and for the next 20 years it would bring in the biggest names in the world such as Jimmie Clark, Graham Hill, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Mario Andretti, just to name a few.

As the seventies ushered in a greater variety of competition and an expansion to the circuit itself, Throughout this period The Glen added Can-Am, Trans-Am, Endurance races, Formula 5000, CART and the Indy Car Series. NASCAR, never to be left behind in an era of opportunistic expansion, would return to the “short” course in 1986 when Tim Richmond started from the pole and won the race for team owner Rick Hendrick.

The NASCAR Sprint cup drivers today have shown that they possess the skill, technique and passion to race left and right, and yes, even in the rain as evidenced by the recent, historic Montreal Nationwide event. Bill France, Sr. believed in road racing having participated in several himself with sports cars.

It should be evident to all how important road racing is to the international racing community and NASCAR is achieving a degree of success in reaching the Global market with its unique product. But in order for the drivers in NASCAR to be taken seriously abroad as truly world class, NASCAR must make that step forward by adding Watkins Glen and it would be sheer folly not to make a huge deal to the world that their champion got there by racing on a road course.

A true champion should be able to say ‘I can win on short tracks, intermediate tracks, superspeedways and road courses’. Precious few other drivers in the World could say that, could they? 2008 marks the 60th Anniversary of the first race held in the streets of Watkins Glen. Let’s make 2009 the year that the World sat up and truly took notice.

Listen to Race Day on Fox Sports Radio with Rob D'Amico and Michele Rahal Sunday mornings from 6am-9am eastern on 216 Fox Affiliates, XM Radio Channel 142 and streaming LIVE 24/7 at www.FoxSports.com

Michele Rahal from Race Day on Fox Sports Radio

It sounds like the title from a Hollywood science fiction film that was written about a future event from the past. In some respects it is. The reference here is, of course, the dominant teams that we are seeing consolidate in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Hendricks, Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush-Fenway and Richard Childress Racing. The rest are aspiring to reach these levels of power, though they will require deals with Venture Capitalists, Investment Bankers and, to a lesser degree, wealthy privateers.

Let’s state here and now that this movement is in no way a precedent. Without reverting this into a history lesson, this methodology began long before World War II with Auto Union, whom we now know as AUDI and after World War II became a global mission by the great manufacturers of the day to see who could dominate whom. During the Post War years the most notable of these legendary brands were Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari.

Fast forward to the 1960’s and you see the American racing scene, through NASCAR, begin to adopt the same practice, though with fewer multi-car teams such as Holman-Moody, the Woods Brothers, Junior Johnson and, of course, Petty Enterprises. The idea that a one or two car team could lay claim to the label of ‘Super Team’ was largely dependant on the manufacturer itself and whether that manufacturer, whether it be Ford, Chevrolet or Oldsmobile gave the team the “Factory” blessing.

My, how times have changed, or have they? The Daytona 500 broadcast on live television in 1979 jumpstarted the change that would ultimately bring NASCAR into the American lexicon. The demise of Open Wheeled racing (CART) and the numerous Baseball strikes combined with Bill France, Jr’s ingenious television deals convinced the corporations that they had discovered the great marketing vehicle of the modern era.

Though NASCAR has never looked back, it has had its challenges and faces one today. A weak economy, let the pundits argue whether it’s a recession or not, will inherently slow down the investment of corporations in their marketing budgets. It has never made sense to me that the first thing these companies cut is advertising and marketing, but that is the historical process in all businesses. “Cost-Efficiencies” actually appear as revenue on their books. However, not everyone in the NASCAR garage will suffer shut downs and layoffs from this plight. This leads us to the next level of the rise of the Super Teams.

The manufacturers are fighting hard against each other and if you look at the situation between them carefully you discover a method to the madness. Mark Martin un-retiring, again, to drive the #5 Chevrolet for Hendrick and stating that it’s because he wanted to simply “Drive the #5”, Tony Stewart bailing on Toyota and heading for Chevrolet with the promise of ownership and Lord knows what else behind the scenes he’s been promised and Roush-Fenway still managing to prop up Yates Racing without sponsors. All of these moves could be sold to the public on the surface that Toyota is the Evil Empire.

What is actually happening is that the larger teams are grabbing the most marketable, salable and best drivers in order to get the best sponsors, more money, better equipment and some information sharing system that they can use across their platforms whether their drivers like it or not. The smaller teams, such as Waltrip Racing, Petty Enterprises and the Woods Brothers are now left scrambling to find investors that can bring them at least to a level where the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an on-coming train. These are the second tier teams with no big brother.

Joe Gibbs Racing and Red Bull will lead the Toyota assault. Hendrick, without a doubt, and perhaps Stewart-Haas will lead the Chevrolet camp. It may be too late for DEI as the rumors have already begun to swirl that they are dressing up for the investor-mating dance. In Dodge’s case only Evernham can be considered a contender for the moment as the manufacturer is still reeling from what its new masters, Cerberus, a private equity firm, may be doing to their racing program internally. A new engine this year wont be enough to keep up with the other manufacturers as the driver pool shrinks.

What does this mean to the smaller teams that can still manage to compete in the Sprint Cup Series? It means they will be competing for scraps for the foreseeable future even if they are aligned with a manufacturer. If they aren’t a satellite team, they won’t get what they need. It doesn’t mean that the fans won’t tune in, after all their favorite drivers are still in the hunt, they may not travel to the events with the frequency they have in past years, but they will tune in. Television ratings are up as a result of a phenomenon that has been observable when economies are bad or are perceived to be in decline, entertainment such as television, movies and sports in general increase in interest.

How do all these movements relate to the sport in general? It is becoming a manufacturers series much like Formula One. It wasn’t intended to be that way, but in order for it to survive at the popularity level it presently enjoys, it is necessary. It never ceases to amaze me how history, even racing history, repeats itself.

So pick your Super Team, root for that driver in that team and watch NASCAR evolve once again.

By Rob D'Amico from Race Day on Fox Sports Radio

This past week Sirius Satellite Radio reported that Teresa Earnhardt has hired Bear, Stearn & Co. to find a buyer or at least a major investor in DEI. Bear, Stearn & Co. recently merged with JP Morgan whose business model is to partner with select clients to find innovative solutions in order to reach their companies goals.

Internet reports have DEI President of Global Operations Max Siegel saying; "We have not engaged Bear, Stearns or Goldman Sachs or anyone else. We are contacted all the time by outside firms about getting involved in the sport. We are not for sale right now. Nothing is imminent. Are we constantly weighing that as an option? Does that make sense? Quite frankly, we don't know.”



Siegel continued to explain how they are contacted all the time by financial companies and they’re not the only ones, "Every team is looking for a way to bring in appropriate resources. Every single one. We haven't engaged anybody. People obviously approach us, they're approaching everybody. We're looking to be around for a long time in future. We're feeling pretty damn good about where we're going, competition-wise.”

So let’s assume for the moment that DEI is on the market, why now?

Is it the economy? Could it be the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. no longer races for his father’s company and the value of the teams has plummeted? Could it be that Mark Martin, who drives the #8 part-time will leave DEI for a full season with Hendrick Motorsports in 2009? Doesn’t that sound familiar? Not to mention that it doesn’t look like the U.S. Army will be back with the team in 2009 either. The question begins to more like; Why not now?

Last week DEI made an announcement that Aric Almirola will pilot the #8 team full-time and no sponsor was named at that point. Max Siegel says an announcement is coming soon. “We’re fine,” Siegel said. “We’ll make the announcements of who it is over time.”

It certainly seems that DEI needs some financial and sponsorship backing for 2009 and this is nothing new in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage. Petty Enterprise, the oldest team in the sport entered into a deal with Boston Ventures, which hopes to leverage the Petty brand, thus bringing in badly needed sponsorship and financial backing to help the Petty’s find their way back to victory lane.

Who would have ever thought the King Richard Petty would let go of the family business, but he did because it’s not your father’s race team anymore its big business. Just ask, Roush-Fenway Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Gillette Evernham Racing and others who have also taken advantage of their value in the sport.

So let’s take a look at that value, where does Dale Earnhardt Incorporated fall on the most valuable teams list? According to Forbes Magazine it’s 6th. Four other teams are cited as more valuable as the list below shows. DEI has been valued at $109 million with revenue estimated at $86 million, which is based on past and pending sponsorship agreements and scale of operations.

Forbes Top 10 Most Valuable NASCAR Teams in 2008 are:
(Dollar amount in millions)
1. Henrick Motorsports - $335
2. Roush-Fenway Racing - $313
3. Joe Gibbs Racing - $184
4. Gillette Evernham Racing - $150
5. Richard Childress Racing - $130
6. Dale Earnhardt Inc. - $109
7. Penske Racing - $100
8. Chip Ganassi Racing - $94
9. Michael Waltrip Racing - $86
10. Yates Racing - $74

It wasn’t long ago that Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge tried to negotiate 51% of their father’s company but the pair and stepmother Teresa Earnhardt had ‘irreconcilable differences’, ultimately seeing Dale, Jr. move to Hendrick Motorsports.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked after practice at Chicagoland if he had interest in buying DEI, if it were for sale and he said "I don't mean this in a bad way, but I would not have any interest in purchasing it." Enough said.

If I look into my crystal ball, just assume I have one, DEI, in my opinion, will have a partner in the near future. It’s just a matter of time. It’s where the sports is heading with primary sponsorships reaching anywhere between $17-20 million dollars per team, it’s not easy for teams to focus on the business and competition side of this sport at the same time.

You know I’m not suppose to say the “F” word, so cover your ears, here it goes. Franchise. NASCAR doesn’t like it but most of the teams want it or least want the benefits of it, because it would give them something to sell if they were to walk away the sport. A value for something that they’ve put their blood, sweat and tears into. Creating ownership partners gets you as close as you can to franchising without saying it’s a franchise.

The reason NASCAR does want franchises' is because it would keep other teams from entering the sport at anytime.

DEI has a long history in this sport starting back in 1996 with a three-bay garage to its current 200,000 square foot Garage-Mahal that sits on 14 acres. So if they plan on keeping it that way then bring on the partners, soon!